The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Phoenix, Arizona, area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division. The playoff races came down to the regular season's final week, with the Seattle Seahawks winning the AFC West by one game, and the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers winning their respective divisions in a five-way tie, with the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants losing the NFC Wild Card berth to the Los Angeles Rams on tiebreakers. 1988 marked the final seasons for legendary head coaches Tom Landry of Dallas and Bill Walsh of San Francisco as well as the final full year for commissioner Pete Rozelle. The season ended with Super Bowl XXIII when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20–16 at the Joe Robbie Stadium in Florida.

Transactions

Retirements

Draft

The 1988 NFL draft was held from April 24 to 25, 1988 at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Atlanta Falcons selected linebacker Aundray Bruce from the Auburn University.

Officiating changes

Johnny Grier became the first African-American in NFL history to be promoted to referee. Grier replaced long time referee Bob Frederic, who retired in the offseason. Grier was the field judge in the previous season's Super Bowl XXII, which was the same game that Doug Williams of the Washington Redskins became the first African-American quarterback to win the Super Bowl.

Major rule changes

1988 deaths

Preseason

American Bowl

A series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States, the only American Bowl game in 1988 was held at London's Wembley Stadium.

Regular season

Scheduling formula

Highlights of the 1988 season included:

Final standings

Tiebreakers

Playoffs

Statistical leaders

Team

Awards

Coaching changes

Offseason

In-season

Stadium changes

The relocated Phoenix Cardinals moved from Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona

Uniform changes

Television

This was the second year under the league's three-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, NBC, and ESPN to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, the AFC package, and Sunday Night Football, respectively. Joe Theismann took over as lead color commentator in ESPN's booth, replacing Roy Firestone, while the weekly "guest color commentator" spot was discontinued. Meanwhile, Dick Butkus joined The NFL Today as analyst, alongside host Brent Musburger and Irv Cross. A number of NBC's regular NFL commentators were temporarily replaced while they called the network's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea from September 17 to October 2. Among them, Len Berman returned to the NFL on NBC pregame show to fill-in for host Bob Costas, while Curt Gowdy, Ray Scott, Chuck Thompson, Marty Glickman, Merle Harmon, and Al DeRogatis filled-in on the network's various broadcast crews.